What I’m reading
- I finished When the Clock Broke. Good read overall and educational for me, someone who did not live through the late 80s and 90s as a politically conscious adult. Some choice quotes that are illustrative of the decades-long path that the conservative movement has been on:
- “They were asked a series of questions about a hypothetical candidate who had dodged the draft, avoided taxes, had plastic surgery, and never held a job. The group reviled the imaginary pol. But when the same questions were asked naming Duke as the candidate, the group grew testy and defended him. Roemer’s media consultant Raymond Strother noted, “When we described a hypothetical candidate in the same way, the people hated him. But when you told them that person was Duke, they made the same excuses. Basically, we found that the guy was bulletproof.””
- Remind you of anyone?
- “What these middle Americans needed was “a political formula and a public myth that synthesize the attention to material-economic interests offered by the left with the defense of concrete cultural and national identity offered by the right.” To accomplish this, Francis proposed a “new nationalism,” which he thought was the only force sufficiently energetic and massive enough to resist the forces of “managerialism” and “globalism.” It would be particularist enough to preserve the identity of middle Americans, while universal enough to “mobilize passions of mass solidarity and sacrifice.””
- “The central focus was the deficit and the national debt—“the crazy aunt that we keep in the basement. All the neighbors know she’s there, but nobody wants to talk about her”—which Perot connected to the downturn: “We add $1 billion in debt every 24 hours. Does anyone think the present recession just fell out of the sky?” Perot’s prescription for “An America in Danger” was a combination of populist political reform to sweep away corrupt lobbyists, politicians, and bureaucrats; industrial policy and protectionism to reinforce national competitiveness with Europe and Asia; and austerity: cuts to entitlements like Medicare, Medicaid, and Social Security.”
- “They were asked a series of questions about a hypothetical candidate who had dodged the draft, avoided taxes, had plastic surgery, and never held a job. The group reviled the imaginary pol. But when the same questions were asked naming Duke as the candidate, the group grew testy and defended him. Roemer’s media consultant Raymond Strother noted, “When we described a hypothetical candidate in the same way, the people hated him. But when you told them that person was Duke, they made the same excuses. Basically, we found that the guy was bulletproof.””
What I’m playing
Game time is limited, but I’ve put a few hours into Astrobot and Civilization 7:
- Astrobot is amazing so far, really captures that Nintendo platformer magic. Every level is a new little delight, I’m compelled to 100% which is not usually my playstyle.
- I think I like the changes in Civ 7 but need to play through a full game or two to judge. People are mad (when are they not?) but I like the direction - less sandbox, more “game”.
We’re also two games into Ticket to Ride Legacy: Legends of the West. So far, so good. I like that the first games are very fast - 30ish minutes each!
What I’m watching
- Severance… man, so so good. Appointment viewing for us every week.
What I’m up to
- Moving out of our house in preparation for a big remodel. Moving is hard! Looking forward to doing this one more time later this year, then hopefully not again for a long time.